Searching for Summer
by Sessediz
Summary: Belly has just returned from her trip to Spain, and now, with Mr. Fisher's permission, she is heading up to Cousin's for a personal vacation. She made sure that neither Conrad nor Jeremiah were planning on going to the beach house when she was going to be there, but she doesn't even know how long she's going to stay. The house is just as she last remembers it, but almost too much.
1. Chapter 1

**Set right after Belly gets back from Spain.**

* * *

"Mmm.. finally!" I spoke to myself as I began to see the ocean's horizon in the distance. In just a matter of ten minutes I would once again be at the beach house that I loved so much; the place that was more like home than any place else.

I hadn't been to the beach house in over a year, what with traveling abroad in Spain, but I knew that it was where I wanted to spend some time after I got back. Of course, I had spent the last week and a half with my mother and my brother Steven, but I was really looking forward to spending some time alone at the old beach house.

About three weeks before coming back to America, I had called Mr. Fisher to ask for his permission to stay at the house, since he did still own it (kind of). Conrad was the one that took care of it, but I made sure that they weren't planning on being there when I wanted to be there.

Now everything was planned, my car was packed, and I was just a mere six minutes until I would pull up into the driveway to find my perfect getaway for the next two weeks, perhaps longer, but who knows.

I pulled into the large driveway and stepped out onto the packed down dirt/sand mixture. Boy, this place looked beautiful. I was aware that being at Cousin's Beach without my mother, my brother Steven, or the Fisher boys was going to be a whole new experience, but I knew that Susannah was looking after me. She'd make sure that I was safe and that I would relax with my time off rather than be lonely.

Once I had gotten over the initial glow of seeing the house I turned towards my car and started unloading the trunk. I sure had packed a lot of food for just myself, just as I had packed enough clothes to fill the trunk space of mom and Steven, but I wanted to be prepared.

When I stepped into the house I noticed that the glass bowl in the center of the table was missing. I had found it at and antiquity shop in Cousin's right before Jere and I were supposed to get married, but now it was gone. Odd.

I gathered the rest of my belongings and stocked the fridge up before heading to up the stairs to my room. It took me a moment to open the door, but I finally mustered the courage to do so. The door swung open to reveal it just as I had left it. My bed was pushed closer to the wall from when the girls all slept over before the wedding day, the alarm clock was unplugged because there was a lack of outlets for curling irons, and if that wasn't enough to cause me pain, the nightie that Taylor and Anika had gotten me was hanging up in the closet.

It was like the day of the wedding all over again. I hadn't talked to Conrad or Jeremiah much in the past two years, compared to all the previous years, but seeing my room this way flooded it all back. That's when I remembered.

"The letters!" I threw my suitcase onto my bed and dug through it until I found the small stack of letters from Conrad; all wrapped by a ribbon I had bought at a Spanish street market. I hadn't replied to any of them, but I wanted to so badly.

What was there to write? I guess the simple answer was to literally reply to what he had already written, though I felt as if I needed more. I needed something that I could contribute, something that I could bring up.

I sat on the edge of my bed with a plethora of thoughts running through my mind when I saw the pool outside of the window. It was like it was calling for me. I happily undressed and pulled on my new bikini set so that I could swim laps as I thought of what to write.

There was a problem though.

"Oh great…" I shook my head in disbelief. I was the first one to be here this season so the pool was empty, drained, and dirty. If I wanted to swim I was going to have to clean out the pool, refill the chemicals, and fill it up with water.

I spent the afternoon doing just that. Since I had gotten back from Spain my attitude towards work had undeniably changed. It's not like I was a slacker before, but I had definitely matured in the past year.

Spending the evening alone at the beach house was quite nice. For dinner I made my own burger along with a salad and afterwards I snuggled on the couch with a cup of my new addition: eccentric teas. My friend Maria from Barcelona had gotten me hooked. She had so many different flavors, brands, and some from different countries! There was a tea for every mood you were in or even a mood you _wanted_ to be in.

As soon as the old film I was watching went off I turned off the television and started to get ready for bed; turning out the lights, brushing my teeth and such. It was when I walked back into my room that I remembered the status of my bed and the condition of my room. Since it was late, I figured it wasn't worth the trouble to fix up till tomorrow, so I made a bold decision. I went to Conrad's room.

I don't know why I chose his. I could have easily gone to Jere's or Steven's room, or even my mother's old room, but I chose Conrad's. Perhaps because I was considering giving him a second chance, but perhaps because I knew that the bed would be made perfectly and the alarm clock would be on and accurate.

But maybe it was because I had always wanted to.

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**This is technically my first Summer Series fanfiction, but I do have another one on this site that I am working on. I started writing this one right after I got off the 'high' of the original stories and turned to fanfiction for more to read. Let me know if you like this so far and want to see more!**


	2. Chapter 2

When I woke up the next morning I heard the faint drips of rain falling onto the rooftop. It was one of those lazy mornings that you just slowly wake up to and may even casually dismiss. Like, it's not a new day yet if the sun's not shining. But I knew better.

I sat up and rubbed my eyes when I suddenly remembered where I was. Yes, I was at the beach house, which made me exuberantly happy, but I was in Conrad's bed.

I shrugged it off because I decided that it didn't matter. A bed was a bed. Nothing more to it.

Breakfast was fairly simple. Two eggs scrambled and a few slices of bacon. While I ate I had a thought of how, if Con were here, my meal would have been a whole lot more impressive. Like something from the cover of a Betty Crocker or Julia Child cookbook.

It was time to write my letter to Conrad.

"Ugh!" I called aloud. "This just… no, just no." I crumpled up what seemed to be the twentieth draft and it nestled onto the floor with all the others. After another ten minutes of staring at the circle of the table I finally got an idea.

_Dear Conrad, _

_I guess it's about time that I reply to your letters._

_I am writing you now because I have been thinking about you lately. Your letters meant so much to me and I wanted to write you back so badly, but I didn't know how. I mean, how would Jeremiah have felt?_

_Maybe that's not a good excuse, but it's the one I've got. Anyways, I was wondering if you'd like to talk sometime soon. I am pretty much plan-free for the next few weeks so you can call me at any time that best suits you. _

_Hope to hear from you soon,_

_Belly_

_P.S. What happened to the glass bowl that I bought two years ago? Did you move it some place?_

I must've read over that letter a dozen times; it was the best one yet, which wasn't saying much. I sealed the envelope and filled in the Fisher's home address. I didn't know if he was taking summer classes or not, but I didn't have the address for his dorm, so this had to do.

Just as I was writing my name in the top left corner I realized that I shouldn't write the Cousin's address because, knowing Conrad, he'd be here no later than a day after he received my letter, so I left it blank. Just my name: Isabel Conklin.

When I drove into town to rent a movie I stopped by the postal office and dropped off my letter.

Then I went to the home improvement store to buy some flowers for the garden surrounding the house. Susannah always loved gardening and the summer house was always in bloom. Still, since she had passed away, the garden wasn't much more than a few blooms and tall grasses; only perennials were left since no one was there to plant the annuals.

So I took the liberty of fixing that for this summer. It was the least I could do being that I was staying for free.

**Conrad's POV**

"Thank God." I whispered to myself as I filled in the last short answer on the last of my final exams. It had been a long week of studying and I was glad to be finally finished. This summer was going to be amazing.

I had already called Clarke down at the home and gardening store in Cousin's to pre-order all the flowers that my mom used to plant, as well as some fresh paint and a few other supplies. Belly hadn't replied to any of my letters that I had sent her while she was in Spain, but I had a plan. I was going to invite her to the beach house in Cousin's after I had fixed up the place.

The house was _basically_ mine, so I decided it was me who should do the home improvement. My plan was to paint over any of the bare spots on the outside of the house, plant the garden with packaged flowers, and fix any small areas such as loose nails.

Once everything's perfect I will call Belly. It was my goal. Only letters until the house was finished.

Four hours after turning in my last exam I was just outside of the city limits of Cousin's. The smell of the ocean filled the car as I neared the beach house. I could barely contain my excitement as I turned onto the last street, but as I got closer to the driveway I saw another car already parked. It wasn't until I pulled up to the house that I recognized it as Steven's old car – Belly's current car.

She was here. She was inside the beach house and it wasn't ready yet.

"You've got to be kidding me…" I muttered to myself as I cut the engine and saw Belly kneeling beside the porch with a flat of plants and a sun hat on. She turned around and didn't looked surprised to see me, almost as if she had planned to meet me here.

"Good evening, Conrad Fisher." She said as she stood up and dusted off her knees. Her skin was incredibly tanned and her hair had gotten much longer since I last saw her. After the wedding was cancelled she went through a short, but strange, phase of changing her appearance. The first thing she did was cut her long beautiful hair to a short bob above her shoulders. It had made me sad to see her so different, but also good as I knew she was trying to turn over a new leaf and move past the ex-engagement to my brother, Jere.

Now here she was, standing in front of my car looking the same way I always remembered her. My beautiful Isabel Conklin.

**Belly's POV**

When I had stopped by the home improvement store earlier to buy flowers for the beach house I was told that they had my order ready, which was odd because I hadn't ordered any flowers beforehand. I recognized one of the sales associates as Jere and Con's old friend Clarke and told him there must be a mix up.

Apparently Conrad was planning on showing up later today to do his own gardening and sprucing up. Instead of feeling like I was losing my personal vacation, I felt immensely happy that Conrad was coming over.

Now here he was, pulling into the driveway. The expression on his face said it all: he was happy to see me.

"Isabel Conklin… What are you doing here?" He grinned as he walked from his car over to where I stood.

"I could ask you the same thing. This was supposed to be my own vacation at the summer house, and your father said you weren't planning on showing up this early in the summer." I brushed a few loose strands of hair behind my ear and looked up at him. He was so tall, even taller than I remembered.

"It was going to be a surprise. I was going to fix this place up like new and invite you to spend a week with me. But I guess it's too late now." He stuffed his hand into the pocket of his cargo shorts.

"Well," I paused, "if it's any consolation, I probably would have said yes." His eyes lit up, practically like Jeremiah's.

"That does help, yes." He smiled.

For the rest of the afternoon we helped each other plant the garden and by sundown it was finished. I told Con I would water the flowers with the hose while he started dinner. When I went inside I saw him frying chicken breasts in a skillet.

"Where did you get those? I didn't bring any chicken." I said waltzing up to him.

"I know. I brought them. Good thing too, it seems that you brought mostly TV dinners with you, Isabel." He smirked devilishly. He just loved to rub it in that I couldn't cook unless it was a four minute microwavable meal, so I just stuck my tongue out at him.

"Did you change?" I asked noticing he was now wearing a black V-neck instead of the green polo he showed up in.

"I did. In fact, I changed in my bedroom." He raised an eyebrow towards my direction, "Which seems to have been slept in recently." I swallowed hard.

"Well, I couldn't sleep in my bed last night so I went to yours."

"Oh, boogey man under your bed again?" He teased. I nudged his arm.

"Stop it. No, it was not the boogey man. It's just… it had some wedding stuff left in it and such." He got very still and the kitchen fell silent. I had brought it up. I thought he would be the one to, but alas it was me.

"Oh. Then I understand." He flipped the chicken over in the skillet and remained silent before jokingly saying, "You can still sleep in my room tonight. Don't mind me, I'll just be on my half."

"Ha! Your half? Like you and I sharing a bed?" He looked at me thoughtfully, but I looked away.

"Look, Conrad, I will admit that I have missed you very much. And you know that Jere and I cancelled our wedding because I still had feelings for you, but let's not move this too fast, alright?"

He nodded his head approvingly. "Of course." He reached for the nob on the stove and turned off the eye. "Dinner's done."

Conrad had made green beans, corn on the cob and pan-fried chicken. Everything was absolutely delicious and I was so stuffed once my plate was cleared.

After dinner, Conrad said he was going to jump into the shower. I opened the box set of Gossip Girl DvD's that Taylor had given me earlier this week and started watching the first episode.

**Conrad's POV**

I turned on the shower and stepped in. All I could think about was Belly. The way it would feel to hold her in my arms and smell the scent of her hair. It was almost too much.

I decided that I was going to throw on a pair of boxers and my V-neck again after my shower. Then I would go downstairs and talk to Belly about what I was feeling, and what I hoped that she was feeling too.

When I finally got down to the living room I saw a show going off.

"What cha watching?" I asked. She turned around for a brief moment before turning away again.

"Gossip Girl."

"Isn't that that stupid show about stuck up rich people?" How could she watch something like that? It wasn't like her at all.

"Taylor got it for me." Well, that explains it. "She wanted to re-Americanize me after my year in Spain. Or, at least, the way she saw America."

I shook my head in disbelief. "And so you are actually watching it?" She rolled her eyes as she clicked the TV off.

"I was about to head to bed, my bed, so was there something you wanted to say?" She looked straight at me and waited for me to respond.

"Actually, yes, there is." I sat down next to her and looked down at the ground. All I could do was keep taking large breaths like I was about to speak, but then I wouldn't say anything. Finally I got the words out.

"Belly, I just wanted to let you know that what I felt for you two years ago, and even before then, is how I still feel now. I am in love with you." She sighed quietly and grabbed my hand.

"You know, I love you too, Conrad." She smiled gently as she squeezed the hold she had on my hand. Her hands were so small and delicate.

"Belly, may I kiss you?" I knew it was a long shot that she would say yes, but I knew that if I was going to I was going to have her permission first.

I couldn't tell what she was thinking. She didn't love mad, but she didn't look thrilled either. Just as she was about to start talking again she stopped and closed her mouth.

"Belly, you can say no. I just wanted to ask." Her eyes looked up at mine longingly and then to my lips. Classic sign that she wanted to kiss me, but I needed to hear it first.

"Close your eyes, Conrad." I nodded and did as she told me. Of course, I had expected her to lean in and kiss me, but instead she wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug. God, I missed this so much. It wasn't a kiss, but it was just as amazing as one.

Belly started to pull away so I began to as well. Just as I was about to speak up she leaned in again and kissed me.

Her lips were so smooth and delicious, I just wanted to pick her up and take her to my room. But I knew Belly wasn't like that, so I just kept kissing her, licking her lips until she parted them just enough for my tongue to explore her mouth.

We kissed passionately on the couch for about ten minutes before she slowly pulled away grinning. Now that I could see her I noticed that she was trembling. I had never seen a girl do that before; whether after a kiss or something more. It was like the electrons in her body were firing off. I kept my eyes on her waiting for a response, but she just stood up frantically, stuttering out the words, "I'm sorry, Conrad. I'm sorry," and ran up the stairs to her room.

I just sat there on the couch alone, touching my fingertips to my lips. Kissing Belly was always one of my favorite memories of her, but this kiss was different. This time she had felt something different.

As for me, this time I had felt something inside of me yearn for her even more.

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**What do you think happened to Belly? Could she have decided that she was no longer in love with Conrad? Or perhaps she was just shy being with her old love. Let me know what you think of this chapter and if you'd like to hear more!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Belly's POV**

I woke up the next morning at about 9:00 AM. I knew that because my clock was working again; Conrad must've set it up for me.

Last night I had a dream about him. I dreamt of us holding hands on the beach, our bare feet leaving footprints in the soft sand. It was so simple yet amazing.

"Oh shit." I muttered to myself as I kicked my covers off. I threw on some decent clothes while I thought about last night. Conrad and I had kissed. And I ran away. I am so stupid.

When I got to the bottom of the steps I suddenly smelled blueberry pancakes cooking.

"Good morning, Isabel!" Conrad called out as he picked up the handle of the skillet and flipped a pancake over.

"Good morning." I sat on a stool by the kitchen counter. "Hey, why are you calling me Isabel so much? You can call me Belly, you know that." I started messing around with the salt and pepper shakers.

"I know, but it's more formal."

"Why do you need to be so formal with me? I'm Belly Conklin, remember?" I spilled the pepper shaker and sneezed.

"Bless you." Conrad turned off the stove. "Isabel, I have strong feelings for you. I would like to be able to be with you, but after last night I guess that that won't happen. Calling you by your nickname and acting like the old days won't achieve that, so instead I will be formal." He put the last pancake on top of the stack and made his way over to the table where everything else was already set.

"But that's not what happened last night." I said shyly. He closed his eyes and turned towards me.

"Then what happened?"

I fidgeted out of my seat and walked in his direction. "I- I was… When I was kissing you, I just started getting all these ideas... and I didn't want those ideas so I guess I kind of freaked out." He just stared at me while I told him, and then he started to grin.

"Wait, so you're telling me that you ran away from our kiss because I turned you on?" Conrad chuckled to himself.

"What's so damn funny?" My jaw tightened as he continued his laughter.

"No-nothing… Belly, that is just about the funniest thing I've ever heard!" My face relaxed when I heard him call me by my nickname. When he saw that I wasn't joining in the laughter and that I was standing there like a statue he regained his composure, placing his hands on my shoulders. "Belly, I love you. I know that things are weird with our history and the history you have with my brother, but I love you so much. I don't need those things right now, as long as I have you."

I gave him a half-smile and blushed. With Conrad I felt safe. Yes, he had broken my heart in the past, but he always kept me safe. Conrad was always thinking ahead.

"Hey, uh, would you like to go to the beach after breakfast?" Conrad asked as he started serving the food.

"Sounds wonderful."

We walked up and down the beach for over two hours talking about everything that we had missed in each other's lives. Apparently, Conrad made the Dean's List and was given a scholarship for med school. I talked about my trip to Spain and about all the people I had met. I even mentioned my exuberant friend Maria to him.

"You seem really excited about these teas." He said as I giggled.

"They are so delicious! We'll have to see if there are any stores in the area that sell specialty teas." I said as I drew a star into the sand with my toe.

Conrad put his arms around me. "We will. I'll make sure of it."

I felt so close to Conrad now. We reconnected like no time had passed and everything was going well. I was thinking about kissing him again when I noticed that he had stopped in his tracks.

"What is it?" I asked right before seeing the answer for myself. There was a third car now in the driveway, one I didn't remember. "Whose car is that?"

Conrad didn't look away from the house when he said, "Jeremiah's."

We walked inside to see Jeremiah sprawled out on the couch drinking a beer. "Hey, guys! Have a nice romantic walk?" I couldn't tell if he was joking around or offended.

"We were just walking." Conrad said as he walked over in front of Jeremiah. "What are you doing here?"

"This is my summer house too. I came here for a week at the beach. Seems that I should have rescheduled." Jeremiah winked over at me without Conrad seeing.

Conrad rolled his eyes and started to speak loudly, "Jere, I'm sorry about everything that has happened. It's been two years AND I thought we worked through this. Why must you act this way?" Jeremiah stood up and handed his brother his beer. When the bottle changed hands I noticed the label on it read 'I.B.C.', the root beer company.

I started giggling. Jeremiah smiled proudly while Conrad continued to stare at him with disgust. "I can't believe you, man. I seriously thought we were passed this." Conrad spoke evenly until he noticed that we were both now cracking up. "What?"

I turned to Jere and gave him a high five. "Conrad, Jeremiah's just messing with you. That's not even a real beer." Conrad looked down at the glass bottle and his face turned red.

"Oh." He started to smile and began to join us in laughter, gesturing Jeremiah for a hug. "I've missed you bro."

"As have I." Jeremiah said before turning to me. "Now, you two," he pointed to me and then to Conrad, "have my blessing. And you can do whatever you want while I'm here, but let's keep the noises down at night, a'ight?" He winked at Con. My face turned beet red.

Conrad got wide-eyed and very gently shook his head at Jeremiah. It was like a secret code with minimal body movements. Jere looked shocked.

"Oh, Belly, I had no idea. I'm sorry for my crude joke." He put his head down like a little puppy dog.

"It's alright, Jere." It wasn't 100% alright. To have Jeremiah, my ex-fiancé Jeremiah, making sex jokes about Con and I… It just felt so weird.

Jeremiah left to his car to get his bags. He also had three baskets full of dirty laundry, not to mention the clothes in his suitcases.

"Do you really need this many polos?" I asked him as I turned on the washer.

"Yes. The ladies like a variety of color." I giggled at his statement when I heard Conrad call for me from upstairs. Jeremiah grabbed the detergent from my hands, "I've got this. Go see what he wants."

I walked up the stairs and found Conrad in his room. When I stepped inside he shut the door behind me.

"I need to ask you something, Belly, if you don't mind giving me the answer." His eyes looked serious.

"Go ahead."

Conrad cleared his throat. "I recall hearing that you and Jer- my brother… hadn't had sex before you were going to get married. Is that true?" I don't know where he heard that, but I was more concerned on why he was asking.

"That is true…"

"And have you had sex with anyone after him? Perhaps in Spain?" Was he really asking me this?

"Are- Are you asking me if I am a virgin, Conrad?" I crossed my arms over my chest and stared at him.

"Yes."

"Why does it matter?"

"I'm sorry to pry, but are you or aren't you?" I bit my lower lip.

"I am, Conrad. I am a virgin."

"Alright." He walked over to his bed and sat down.

"Are you kidding me right now? You're not even going to tell me why you needed to know?" He continued to just sit there looking at the wall across from him. I turned in a huff to leave his room, but he grabbed my hand.

"I want to be your first."

Oh. My first. "Conrad, even if you are _my_ first, I am not _your_ first."

"I know. And I wish you were."

I smiled at him, "We can still have _our_ first time together."

Conrad wrapped his arms around me and whispered, "That's true. Hey, you want to go swimming? I see the pool's all ready now."

"Sure, I'll go change." I walked into my room where I saw the little jewelry box sitting. As I went to grab it I knocked over a full glass of tea that I had left on my dresser from last night. The drink fell into my –still packed – suitcase. All of my clothes now needed washed.

"Jere! How much longer on your load of laundry?" I called down the stairs while carrying my sopping wet suitcase.

"Uh, yeah, about that…" Jere said rubbing the back of his neck. I then heard Conrad cursing from the laundry room. I dropped my suitcase and ran with Jeremiah to see the washer over-flowing with water and smoking. It would seem that Jeremiah has gotten a little impatient when it comes to laundry and tried stuffing as much clothes into it as possible.

"Well, this is more than I can fix. We're going to have to call for a repair man." Conrad sighed.

"But... I have nothing to wear. My clothes are now all dirty." Conrad smirked and I knew right away what he was thinking.

Conrad got a hold of the repair shop, but the earliest they could come by was tomorrow at noon. Great.

Jeremiah said that he felt like going out for dinner and I agreed, so Conrad drove us all to a steakhouse. It was like old times. There was laughter, jokes, stories, and no grudges. The stories were different now, but it was just like when we were kids.

We stayed till the waitress came by and told us they were closing up. On the ride home I was fiddling with the radio when the perfect song came on. So naturally, I sang along.

_Just a little bit longer  
Please let me hear  
You say that you will  
Say you will _

Jeremiah soon joined in and for the final verse we got Conrad to sing along too. I was giggling about Conrad's bass singing voice when we walked inside and said goodnight to each other. I gave Jere a kiss on the cheek and kissed Conrad passionately on the lips before going to my room and closing the door.

I looked around and remembered that I didn't have any clothes to change into for bed when the closet caught my eye. I opened it to reveal the one last thing clean item I had: the lacy white babydoll nightie set that Taylor and Anika had gave me.

Sighing, I took the nightie off the hanger and changed into it. Before going to bed I decided I was going to read one of the books my host family gave me as a parting gift. When I got to the first page of chapter two I heard a knock at the door.

"Come in." I said as Conrad walked in and closed the door before looking at me. His mouth dropped open.

"What?" I said right before realizing what he was looking at. I covered my chest with the book.

"You look so beautiful, Belly…" He said strutting over to my bed.

"Thank you, but don't think that me wearing this means anything special for you. It's the only clean thing I had."

"I know." He smirked devilishly as he sat down and leaned into me. I, of course, couldn't resist kissing him and he kissed me back. We leaned backwards on the bed so that he was on top of me. Conrad started trailing kisses down my neck to my collarbone and was about to continue when he paused. "Don't worry, I won't go any further." He smiled.

I ran my fingers through the tuft of hair on his head. "It's okay, you can keep going." I whispered gently. Conrad's eyes got wide so I nodded 'yes' so clarify my answer. Conrad traced patterns in my side with his fingers as he brought them to my chest. Gasping at his touch, my heart began racing.

"One moment." He whispered as he walked over to my light switch and flicked it off. In the dark I could hear the sound of clothes grasping to skin.

"Conrad, please don't tell me you're already naked." I giggled.

"Nope. Just don't have a shirt on." He leaned back down on top of me, beginning to slide the straps of my nightie off of my shoulders while saying, "You can have those thoughts now."

I smiled as his lips crushed mine. His wet tongue traced the outline of my lips over and over, making me beg for him to continue. We made out passionately for a long while to the point that I was getting exhausted.

"Conrad, can you hold me for a second while I catch my breath?" He cupped my face in his hands.

"Of course." It was only a matter of minutes before my exhaustion overcame me and my eyes closed.

**Conrad's POV**

"Belly?" I rubbed her cheek softly, "Are you awake?" I chuckled quietly and kissed the top of her head.

I thought that tonight was going to be the night, but it seems that we'll have to wait for another time. By now my eyes had gotten used to the darkness of her room and so I could see her face.

"Perfect." I whispered in her ear as she stirred for a brief moment. Wrapping my arms around her I heard her mumble something inaudible. I got really still so as to not making any noise, trying to hear her talk in her sleep.

"Conrad…" she breathed.

I nestled my body into hers. Don't worry, Belly Button. I'm right here. And I'll never leave you again.

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**D'awww… I know. Hope you are enjoying this story and liked this chapter, but tell me what you think! Also, do you think that this chapter should make up update the T rating to an M rating? I feel like it's kind of borderline, but you tell me, alright?**

**Till next time…**


	4. Chapter 4

**Belly's POV**

When I woke up I felt someone's belt pressing against mine. I turned slightly to see Conrad lying next to me. Smiling, I pulled his arm off my body gently so as to not disturb him when I noticed the clock. Not only was I awake before Conrad, but he was usually up by now.

I walked into the bathroom to wash my face when I noticed my phone sitting on the counter. Three missed calls, a voice message and a text. The text was from Steven:

_Hey, Bells. I heard that Conrad showed up to the summer house. Jere said he was on his way too. Sounds like a gathering, so I hope you don't mind if I come by for a few days. Be there at about noon._

The calls and voice mail were from my host family's daughter, and my best friend throughout my stay in Spain, Maria:

_Isabelly, I hope your phone is not lost like that time at A Rapa das Bestas... Remember the grey-white mustang? Haha! Anyways, I wanted to surprise you, but I need someone to pick me up from the airport. I am coming to see you at the house you wouldn't stop talking about! My flight comes in at 11:05 in the morning at the Wilmington International Airport. Don't leave me alone at the baggage claim, Isabelly… Haha! I hope to see you there!_

Oh. Cool. I thought to myself as my eyes suddenly got wide. It was already 10:15 and the airport was at least a half hour away. I rushed into my room and shook Conrad awake.

"Con! Con wake up!" he stirred for a moment, but once his eyes opened he quickly jumped up.

"What? What is it?" he asked.

"My friend Maria decided to surprise me by flying to America and she needs me to pick her up at 11:00. I don't have anything cleaned yet!" I said panicky running a brush through my hair.

"Alright. You can borrow one of my shirts." He said walking towards his room.

"But what about pants?" I asked. He looked at me for a moment and then looked towards his mother's old bedroom.

"I'm sure you could fit into one of mom's skirts. Your hips are about the right size now." He walked into his room and I continued down the hall.

It had been years since I had stepped foot in Susannah's room. I remember that when I was younger, I would get upset about the guys camping without me. So Susannah would invite me into her room with my mother and we'd play games and eat snacks. Honestly, I think I had a lot more fun that way than I would have if the guys had to bring me along.

I creaked open the door to find the room in absolute pristine condition – that is, everything was where it belonged, but a layer of dust was thickening on the surfaces of the room. Susannah's skirts were still in the top left drawer of her dresser and I found a pink and red floral one that seemed about my size. I slipped it on over the lacey panties from my nightie when I heard a knock.

"That's a good color on you. Here's a t-shirt. The only small tee I could find was my old _Reservoir Dogs_ shirt. Hope that's alright." He held up a thin red shirt with men in suits on it.

"Yeah, that's fine." I said grabbing the shirt. "I'll eat breakfast in a moment and then drive out to the airport for Maria."

"I'm coming with you." Conrad smiled sweetly.

"But the repair guy will be here before too long… Oh, and Steven's coming too." I added.

"Steven? When is he getting here?" Conrad seemed shocked, but excited.

"In about an hour, assuming he doesn't get stuck in traffic. Now, will you let me change?" I raised my eyebrows at him and he took the hint.

He put his hands in the air, stepping backwards saying, "Alright. Alright."

I decided to pull the shirt over my nightie since I didn't have a bra; then I had to tuck it in so the edges wouldn't show. When I got downstairs Conrad had a bowl set out for me and a box of Chex.

"No fancy breakfast today?" I teased as I fixed my bowl of cereal.

"You don't have time. Besides, we're veering on lunch anyways. I'll have something ready for when Maria and Steven get here... and whenever Jere decides to get up for the day." He said as he stirred a pot of ground beef and added a pinch of salt.

"He seems to be doing well." I ate a bite of Chex and saw that the back of the box had a maze on it. "Hey, do you have a pen?"

"Really, Belly? Must you be six again?" Conrad grinned as he handed me a sharpie from the kitchen drawer.

"Yes. Got a problem with that?" I glanced over the maze before starting to draw the way through.

"No, Ma'am." He turned off the eye of the stove and started grating cheese. "Oh, it's 10:37, Belly. You have to go."

I flung by head around to face the clock, "Darn it." I grabbed by keys out of the little basket on the kitchen counter, "I'll be back soon!" I called out as I ran out the door, down the steps, and to my car.

I followed the roads towards Market Street and then got on I-74 on route for the airport. The radio was playing _Summer Breeze_ by Crosby, Stills & Nash. Perfect song for the beautiful weather outside.

**Conrad's POV**

Belly had left in such a hurry that I didn't get a chance to tell her to drive safely. And that I loved her. I hope she knew that I meant to.

I was mixing the ground beef and grated cheese when Jeremiah finally decided to grace the waking world with his presence.

"Morning, bro." He said as he grabbed an English muffin off the counter and popped it into the toaster. "Belly still sleeping?"

I got the butter out of the fridge and handed it to him, "Nope. She's on her way to the airport. Apparently, her friend from Spain, Maria, decided to surprise us all by flying to America for a visit." Jeremiah looked at me wide-eyed when the muffins popped up from the toaster. "And Steven's coming by too."

"Whoa. Steven, Maria, us… this is going to be a full house."

"Which reminds me; I need to run to the ATM to get some cash for when the repair guy gets here. I'm going to start a pot of water, would you mind watching it for me?"

"It'll never boil." Jere smirked. Very funny.

"You know what I meant. Just make sure the house doesn't burn down." I grabbed my keys and slipped on my sandals. "I'll be right back."

I went out to the car to see Steven rolling up. "Hey, man, where ya headed?" Steven called out from his car.

"Errands, but I'll be right back. Jeremiah's inside though."

"Where's Belly?" He said as he cut his engine.

"Do you remember hearing about a Maria from Spain?" I opened my car door.

"Yeah, they were pretty tight over there."

"Well, she's flying in in about twenty minutes. We all just found out less than an hour ago."

"Oh. Fun." He looked up at the house. "Well, I guess we'll all catch up later then. See ya."

"Yeah." I slid into the driver's seat and started my car.

It would have normally only took only fifteen minutes to go to the ATM and back, but I had used the rest of the ground beef we had. And we were now short on a lot of the food, what with there now being five people instead of just me. Or me and Belly.

So I stopped by the market to pick up some more food. When I drove back up to the house I saw the repairman's van parked. I walked inside with bags in hand to see Steven, Jeremiah, and Cam Cameron in the kitchen,

"What are you doing here, Cam?" I set down the bags and noticed his attire. "Are you our repairman?"

"Funny enough, yes. Jeremiah and Steven were just telling me about what's happened over the past few years." He glared over in my direction.

I started putting away the groceries as I said, "Well, we need our washer fixed soon. We have a lot of laundry to do."

Cam Cameron nodded and looked to Jere who showed him the way to the washroom. About ten minutes later he walked through the kitchen and out to his van, I assumed to get more tools, but then I heard Belly's voice.

**Belly's POV**

"So now you're back in Cousin's working as a repairman?" Cam Cameron bobbed his head while he grabbed a large wrench from his tool bin. Maria was patting down her skirt when she suddenly nudged me.

"Hey, who is that? That must be Conrad Fisher." She squealed quietly in my ear. Maria had loved my stories about the summer house, the boys, and all the bits of sand in between. Those stories were probably the reason why she was here now, at least partially.

"Yeah, it is." I waved to Conrad, who was leaning against the door frame. His eyes were locked on something, not me, but something. I followed his line of sight to see him staring at Cam.

Maria must have noticed too because she pulled me close and whispered, "Conrad keeps staring at Cameron. Is he a homosexual?" I almost burst out laughing, unable to answer. Eventually, I was able to just shake my head no and gesture us all inside. Cam immediately went back to work fixing the washer while I introduced Maria to everyone. Or, well, she introduced herself.

"You must be Jeremiah. Polo shirt and curly hair." She giggled as she shook Jere's hand. "And I know you're Conrad because I can't see your face with your long bangs." Maria held out her hand towards Conrad, who was now preoccupied with brushing his hair to the side. He shot me a look as if to say 'what did you tell her about me?'

I replied to his look aloud, "I may or may not have told her that you had 'man-bangs'." Maria giggled 'man-bangs' to herself, Jere and Steven joined in.

"And so that leaves Steven, Isabelly's brother." When Steven and Maria shook hands there was this look that they exchanged. I thought for a moment that this could be a start to something, but it didn't seem feasible so I dropped it as quickly as it had entered my mind.

"So!" I interjected the silence of the room and the ongoing glance between Maria and my brother, "Conrad has made us a fine meal and I think it's about time we eat it."

We all started serving ourselves and bringing our plates to the table. Conrad had made homemade hamburger helper. No box or anything; not that _I_ could have done it _with_ the box. Cam walked back into the room and talked to Conrad. I couldn't tell what they were talking about, but he left soon after.

"Hey, is the washer fixed now?" I asked Conrad before sitting down.

"Yes. Would you like some mozzarella?" He reached for the bag of cheese.

"Sure. Just let me go start a load of clothes."

We spent about forty-five minutes talking about the differences between Spain and America while we ate. Afterwards, we all went outside to the porch to laze around and feel the summer heat. As I sat on a rocking chair I noticed that Jere was texting a lot.

"Jeremiah, who has your attention so much?"

He looked up from his phone and grinned, "Nobody."

"Oh." I smirked at Conrad before looking back at Jere, "And does this nobody have a name?"

"Not yet." He slid his phone in his pocket. "Who's up for a swim in the pool?"'

We all decided to go swimming for the afternoon, so I didn't have to put my gold-linked white bikini in the dryer. Maria had certainly gotten a hold of my fashion sense. The clothes I wore now were nothing like I wore even last year.

Everyone got into the pool right away. Maria was sporting her red–orange fiesta midkini and I jumped in without feeling any anxiety about my swimming attire or who saw me wearing it. But wearing it wasn't the problem.

When I dove into the pool I quickly realized that I didn't have the straps to my top tightened all the way. I plunged further under the water hoping that I would see them all turn around so I could resurface, but instead, Maria grabbed it and swam down to me, helping me to tie it back on. When we reached the surface Steven was cracking up.

"Bells, maybe you should go back to one-pieces!" I swam over to him and dunked his head down.

"And maybe you should learn some manners, like when to move along and keep your mouth shut!" Of course, I was no match for Steven. He was like 200-something pounds of muscle, as well as my brother, so not attacking me back wasn't a custom, but a courtesy.

He picked me up and threw me down into the water. As the bubbles underneath the water started to dissipate, I felt someone swimming from under me. Conrad had seen this as an amble opportunity to play 'chicken' in the pool. First it was Conrad and I against Steven and Maria, with Jere refereeing. I won the first two rounds, but they won the next three.

Then Steven claimed to want a 'victory rest' on the edge of the pool, so Jeremiah took his placement. I tapped Conrad on the shoulder, "Hey, are you tired too? I know I'm not the lightest girl, I don't want to make you fall into the water."

Steven was muttering something when Conrad smiled up at me and said, "I go wherever you go." Right then I was pushed down into the pool by Maria and Conrad followed suit. There was a wave of water rushing over my face as we both gasped for air.

"See? I told you I'd go wherever you go." Conrad winked at me before kissing my cheek.

* * *

**Thank you all for your reviews so far! How about we make a deal? I'll keep writing chapters if you keep writing reviews. Sounds fair enough to me ^_^**

**Hope you all liked this chapter and stick around for the next one!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Belly's POV**

Conrad was hanging out with Jeremiah and Steven at the docks. They had decided that they were going to relive some old memories of shoving each other into the ocean. Oh, boys.

Maria asked me to take her to an 'American store' while the guys were out so that she could buy souvenirs for all of her family, which means that she was going to need another suitcase.

I was looking at a large case full of dancing figurines when I heard Maria talking to the manager.

"What do you mean you don't accept this? This is money. It is just as good as your American currency." She put a hand on her hip and cocked it to the side.

"I'll buy it for you, Maria." I said handing the manager my debit card. "How much did you pick up?" I asked as I looked down to her basket.

"Just – uh – a few things…" Her basket was filled with at least 30 different magnets, postcards, and key chains.

"A few?"

"Isabelly, you know that my family doesn't do anything small. Acosta's are famous for having the biggest fiestas and the most fun. Besides, this is just for the cousins." My jaw dropped. Of course, though, she was right. Her family was notorious for doing things big and without limits. I learned that the hard way my first night in Barcelona, Spain. "Besides, I'll pay you back as soon as I can get my currency changed." She smiled at me as the manager handed her a shopping bag full of little gifts.

"I know. Hey, do you want to go to the boardwalk? They have games you can play, and a ferris wheel." The ferris wheel was always my favorite. You could see all of Cousin's from the top. I had shared every emotion with that ride: love, happiness, joy, sadness, and pain.

"If it's important to your feelings towards the summer house, then count me in! I'm here for the entire Isabelly Conklinelly experience!" She beamed as she looped her arm around mine. "Let's go!"

When we got to the boardwalk, Maria immediately ran to the ring toss booth. I could see her eyeing the prizes to see if they were worth the challenge.

"I think my mother would like the little Elvis doll, don't you think?"

"Well, it is very American. What about the pink unicorn? It's kind of like a horse, and your mother does love horses." Maria touched her bottom lip with her finger and thought for a moment.

"I think I'll play and then decide. Can I borrow a couple dollars?" I reached into my pocket to get her money. When I looked up I thought I saw a row of polar bears with glasses and a scarf, but as soon as I blinked they were gone.

Maria started throwing rings at the Coca-Cola bottles when I quietly said, "You know, the last time I came here with Conrad was when I was really little. I couldn't bear to come back with him after that."

"Hmm? Did you say something?" She threw her last ring towards the bottles and the ring rounded around the neck of a coke bottle. "I won! I won!" Her arms went into the air. I looked over to see the booth worker grindingly stand up to ask her which prize she wanted. Maria finally decided to get the little Elvis doll for her mother.

We started walking to the bumper cars when Maria asked about what I had said at the ring toss booth. "Oh, that? It's nothing." I tried to brush it off as gabber.

"It didn't sound like nothing, you sounded upset." Maria stopped walking. "Please tell me?"

"Alright. I was just saying that the last time I went to the ring toss with Conrad was when I was much younger. You know the polar bear I brought with me to Spain? He won that for me." I said before sitting down on a park bench.

"That sounds so adorable! He won that for you?"

"Yeah, but I wasn't that happy afterwards. You see, he only brought me along as an excuse to talk to this girl he liked. She ran the booth that summer." I lowered my head. "I rode the ferris wheel until I could stop crying. Then when I met back up with him and he gave me the bear. It was the one that I had been eyeing all summer, but I was so upset that I just put it in my room and left it there."

A shadow fell over me and I heard a deep, husky voice reply, "I never you cried that day." I turned around to see Conrad standing there with Jeremiah and Steven behind him. "You said that you weren't feeling well. Why didn't you tell me you were upset?"

"How could I have? I mean, it's not like you would have let us leave. You would have just asked me to stay." I stood up pulling the long strap of my purse over my shoulder. "But that was a long time ago. Maria and I were going to go to the bumper cars; would you guys like to join us?"

Jeremiah and Steven looked at each other, hollered, "Race ya!" and took off running. Maria looked at us and back to the guys.

"I'll try to see if I can catch up – give you two a minute." She scampered off as fast as she could in her strappy sandals.

Conrad looked at me, "Can we talk?"

"What about?" There really wasn't anything that I wanted to talk about. When I was younger it only made me upset, but now that I was older it made me mad.

"Belly, I want to apologize to you for that day. It was wrong of me to use you to get to that girl, whoever she was."

"You don't even remember her?"

"Nope. We never dated. I can't even remember her name." He gestured for me to sit down with him. "Belly, you know that I love you. Why is the past so important?"

"Because, Conrad, it still happened. I was in love with you for much longer than you were in love with me. But then again, I wasn't an immature teenage boy with fluctuating urges for every girl when I entered a room."

Those words seem to sting him. A small part of me was relieved to see that I had affected him because, after all, I was the one upset. But then again, I was mostly frustrated with myself for wanting to hurt him. I had loved him so much and even if I didn't love him now, those years had to count for something. I shouldn't have said that to him.

"I'm sorry, Conrad. I didn't mean to say that." His head turned away from me.

"Belly, you know that I have slept with other girls. More than I care to tell. And I wish that I could take it all back for you, but I just can't. I've made some bad decisions…" He trailed off and held my hand in his.

"Con?" He looked up at me, "When did you first realize that you were in love with me?"

**Conrad's POV**

What? When did I first fall in love with her? I don't know. It just happened. One day I just realized that I liked her a lot, we dated, and somewhere along the way I fell in love.

"I don't know." I finally answered. She looked at me like she didn't believe me. "Really, I don't know. It was when we were dating, that much I know."

"Alright. And when did you first notice that you thought I was pretty?" I smiled at her.

"Thought? You _are_ pretty. And I'm fairly certain that it was _that_ summer. You know, _that_ summer." She shook her head 'yes' and grinned. We were both thinking about the summer she came to the beach house with contacts, long brown hair and a womanly figure. I remember seeing her step out of the car and walk towards Jere and I. She was so smoking hot, I just couldn't believe it.

I also remembered feeling terrible for thinking that about her. She was Belly. Belly Conklin; the girl that I had spent every summer growing up with.

Belly spoke up, "But you didn't do anything about it? You didn't try to hang out with me more, or act affectionately. You were a recluse to your room."

"You know part of the reason for that." My mother, Susannah. "And it's not like I was totally fine with it. I was actually bothered by it for a little while because you were suddenly a woman and not a little girl anymore. I felt that my feelings were somehow wrong."

"Oh." I hoped she knew what I meant without me having to actually say it. I saw her as a woman, but I remembered her as a child. It was just too weird. "I think I understand."

"That's good." I looked out to the beach and saw the sun starting to set. "Would you like to go for a walk on the beach?"

"I think we should go meet up with the others like we planned. They're probably waiting for us." Shit. I was really hoping that she'd say yes so that we could talk longer. "Maybe later?"

"Okay." I smiled as she stood up.

"Conrad, I do want to make one thing clear. We are just friends right now; we're not dating, alright? I'm sorry if last night may have confused you, but I need some time to think for now. Okay?"

What? I kissed her, she kissed me back and we almost… No. That is not fine, Belly. That is not fine at all. "Yeah, that's okay."

"Great. Let's go." Belly walked to the bumper cars and I followed close behind. I can't believe she led me on like that. It just made me want her even more.

Wait.

That was it. She had chased after me for several years, probably at least a decade. Now it was my turn to chase her, as a man should.

Belly is going to have the best summer yet, because I am going to do everything I have to to make her mine.

* * *

**I was going to update this sooner but guess what? I had impromptu foot surgery. Lovely, I know. And while I was on vacation!**

**Anyways, let me know what you guys think of this chapter. I love hearing your opinions so bring 'em on!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Conrad's POV**

We ended up staying too long at the boardwalk for Belly and I to still go on our walk. However, it wasn't too dark for swimming in the pool. I was reading a textbook for next semester when I heard a loud splash from outside.

Belly was doing night laps again. She always did them when she was bored, couldn't sleep or needed to think. I was hoping for the latter.

I threw my book onto my bed before heading downstairs to the pool. This was my chance to talk to Belly.

Just as I was walking out of my door I heard Jeremiah outside talking to her. "Hey, Bells. Sorry 'bout earlier." I walked back over to my window to hear them better.

"For what? It's bumper cars; that's what you're supposed to do." She said out of breath. Jeremiah was laughing so hard that it looked like he might fall into the pool.

"Ha! I wasn't talking about bumper cars. I was talking about Con. What happened when we were younger?"

"Oh that?" she swam to the edge of the pool. "That was so long ago. I try not to think about it like that. He didn't know."

"And he still doesn't."

Belly looked up at Jere where he stood in silence. What the hell was he trying to say?

Finally, he spoke up, "Belly, Conrad has treated you the same way since forever, since the first memory you have of him. You are still like a little sister that he has to watch over. You may have boobs and long hair now, but you're still just Belly Button to him."

I saw her instinctively cover her chest for a moment at the mention of the word 'boobs'. "What are you saying, Jeremiah? That he sees me as a child?" She looked down for a second and shook her head.

"He think he's in love with you, but he's not. He's just thinking about himself. Or, part of himself, you know?" Jere looked down.

I wanted to run down to the pool and beat the shot out of him. How could he say that about me to Belly?

"I think you're wrong, Jeremiah." I opened my eyes to see Belly getting out of the pool. "And how dare you say that about your brother."

"I was trying to warn you, Bells." Jeremiah walked towards her.

"I understand that you think you were trying to warn me. I don't mind that. I mind you telling me lies about your brother." She twisted her hair to wring the water out. "Conrad's a good brother to you. If he truly loves me then his actions will prove it. If he doesn't then I will just have to move on; again." She grabbed her towel and opened the pool gate.

"Belly, I'm serious. Conrad doesn't love you. I love you." What?

"What?" Belly spun around quickly. Too quickly. Her feet slid in the puddle of water that had dripped off of her and fell.

I stood up immediately. "Belly!" I screamed out as I hurried down to her.

**Belly's POV**

Ow.

"Oh my god, Belly, are you okay?" Jeremiah rushed over to me and knelt down.

"I-I think so. My ankle hurts though, a lot." It really did hurt. I must have twisted it.

"Here, let me see." Jere held my ankle gently as he pressed fingers around the skin to feel for sore muscles. I could have sworn I heard Conrad call out when I fell, but he was nowhere in sight.

"Eeh!" I gasped as the tips of his fingers pressed hard on my ankle.

Jeremiah shushed me, "It's alright. You'll be alright." He laid my foot down. "I promise."

"Thank you, Jere." I had been looking at the beach when I felt Jeremiah's lips press onto mine. It took me a few seconds to fully comprehend what was going on, but that was too long.

"What the hell are you doing, Jeremiah?" I heard Conrad's voice bellow as Jere quickly detached his lips from mine. "Belly is hurt so you take this as an opportunity to pounce?" He looked at his brother disgusted. "Move over. I'll help Belly up."

Conrad put his arms under me to lift me off of the ground. I was pretty sure that I could at least walk into the house on my own, but I let him continue anyways. He carried me to the house without any stress. I knew he was strong and liked to work out, but this was different.

"Are you okay?" He asked as he propped the door open with his foot.

"I think so. Some ice should do the trick, hopefully." I helped keep the door open while he brought us inside.

He laid me down on the couch and went to the fridge, "I'm sorry about Jeremiah." He said as he put an ice pack on my ankle; I cringed. "Sorry 'bout that too. Listen, Belly, I heard what Jere said about me."

Conrad looked at me apologetically. "And? I know that you're not a liar. You do love me." He seemed to become ease at me saying that.

"I am still going to prove it to you, Belly." Prove what? That he loves me? "I am going to court you like in all those old books my mother gave you to read."

Honestly, those books didn't get much of my attention. There were too many words for saying so little. The movies actually did the books justice, in my opinion. Pride & Prejudice was my most favorite, but Sense & Sensibility with Kate Winslet was a close second.

"Well, that sounds interesting… What kind of things were you thinking?" I asked him. Conrad stood up, held his hands behind his back and started to walk off.

"Oh, you'll see."

"You had my curiosity, but now you have my attention." I joked. Conrad cracked a smile at my quote.

"Would you like to watch a movie?" He was going through the cabinet under the television stand. "You can pick anything you want, except for maybe not Juno."

"Why not Juno? I love that movie!"

"I know. But you've watched it a hundred times already."

"Alright…"

Conrad sighed, "We can watch it, Belly." He grabbed the case.

"No, it's okay. How about we watch The Sting?" The Sting was Conrad's favorite movie since he was nine. His eyes lit up when I suggested it.

"Are you sure? I mean, that's _my_ favorite movie."

"I like it too. And I want to watch it. If you're trying to help me get _my_ way, you're not off to a good start." He raised an eyebrow when I stuck my tongue out at him.

"I'm gonna get you for that!" He lunged towards me grabbing my sides and tickling me.

"Con! Stop it! Stop!" I said between laughs.

"What's up with you guys now?" Steven said as he entered the living room with Maria towing behind. "Don't tell me you're going to watch a movie this late… It's already 10:30!"

I pouted my lip at him, "Aw, afraid we'll keep you up past your bedtime, Steven?" He rolled his eyes.

"No. I'm going to show Maria to your room. Apparently, she's exhausted."

"Time zone difference; I haven't gotten used to it in the one day that I have been here, Senor Conklin." When I first arrived in Spain, her family, and everyone in Spain for that matter, called me Senorita Conklin.

I giggled, "Maria, you can call him Steven. He won't be offended."

"Don't you think I already told her that?" Steven continued, "It's like telling you to leave me alone. You don't listen."

"Steven, she is doing it out of respect, whereas I…" I trailed off.

"My point exactly. No respect for the brother who has loved you since you were born." He placed his hand over his heart and pouted his bottom lip out.

Maria looked longingly at him. "So sweet…" Oh. Trying to woo Maria was adorableness. I rolled my eyes at him. That was the way to her heart, though. Show her that you love to help old people cross the street or be nice to puppies and you'll get a date.

Steven and Maria left the room shortly after. Conrad started the movie and sat in the recliner. I wish he had sat next to me, but I knew why he wasn't. He was trying to start over and I was okay with that. A half hour into the movie I heard Jeremiah sneak up the stairs but I didn't bother to look.

He had kissed me without asking. And right in front of Conrad. Jeremiah was definitely different now that when we were younger. Not only had he cheated on me but now he was kissing me outside of a relationship. I wondered at what moment he had changed, but maybe he was always going to grow up to be like that.

Conrad and I finished the movie a little after midnight and he helped me up the stairs to my room. We knew that Maria would already be asleep so he said goodnight outside of my door.

"I uh, had a great time tonight." He rubbed the back of his neck.

"Very funny, Conrad. But I had a great time too. Maybe we can go on that walk tomorrow, if I feel better."

"Sure thing." He hugged me loosely then more tightly. "Sleep well, Belly."

"You too, Connie." I used his old nickname and he squinted his eyes before shrugging it off.

"I'll make waffles in the morning. I bought boysenberry syrup at the store today." Boysenberry syrup was my absolute favorite; Conrad had remembered.

Conrad always remembered.

* * *

**Ended on a nice note today, but what will happen when they wake up in the morning? Is Maria going to believe every word that Steven says? What ideas does Conrad have for courting Belly? Will Jeremiah apologize to Belly or will he even be in the summer house when they wake up?**

**I'll answer all these questions and more in the next chapter! So go forth and review, review, review! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Belly's POV**

The sun had just moved in view of my window. Its hot rays were now on my face and the inside of my eyelids were glowing a fiery red. I was just starting to open my eyes when I heard Maria squeal.

"Isabelly! How could you!?" I jumped up quickly, throwing the covers from my bed to the ground. Maria was crouched by my backpack with a handful of letters in her hands. The letters we wrote together; the ones that were my replies to Conrad's letters, which were also the letters that I never mailed. "I helped you write these. I bought the stamps for you. Why didn't you send them?"

I walked over to her and held my hand out for the letters. "Because I didn't feel like it." Maria gave up the letters and left to the window.

"Isabel, I don't believe you. I think you were scared to send them. You are hopelessly in love with Conrad Fisher and you are afraid that he'll break your heart again."

I clutched the letters tightly to my chest and fell backwards onto my bed. "You're right. I was scared. I still am."

"Then why give him a chance now?"

"I don't know. He just… I feel like something's different now."

Maria leaned over the footboard, "But he's changed you. I saw the nightie in your laundry. You guys had sex, didn't you?"

"What? No!" Maria looked at me in disbelief. "I swear. We didn't. But I did think about it and I wanted to."

Maria's body froze. She looked at me sternly before speaking in a serious and even tone, "Isabel, we cannot have a repeat of February 2nd – you remember what happened, right?"

I looked up at her, "I was there, Maria. And thank you for helping me, but please don't bring it up again. I want to forget that it ever happened."

**Conrad's POV**

"Hey, Steven, I just started breakfast. Would you like a waffle?" I poured the batter over the hot waffle iron, closed the top and flipped it over. I knew Belly would want hers fresh, but I figured I could bring it up to her if she didn't hurry down.

"Uh, yeah man. Could you make it two though? I'm starved." He sat down at the table and pulled out his phone.

"Sure, no problem." I went back to work making breakfast when Steven spoke up.

"Hey, I have a text from that Cam Cameron guy that my sister used to go with. He says that he's trying to get a hold of you."

"Why would he want to talk to me? What about?" I didn't even have my phone with me. Maybe I left it somewhere.

"I dunno, but he sounds serious. Want me to call him?"

"Nah." He was probably just trying to make up something so that he could see Belly. "It's probably nothing."

**Belly's POV**

"Well, are you going to tell Conrad?" Maria crossed her arms.

"No. Why do I need to tell him? No one needs to know." I grabbed an old t-shirt from my drawer and a pair of shorts. "Conrad's making waffles. Want some?"

"How can you tell? I don't smell anything."

"It's Conrad," I smiled at her, "I know he's making waffles."

When we got downstairs I saw Steven already eating breakfast. "Good morning, ladies!" Steven said shoving a forkful of waffles into his mouth.

"Buenos Dias, Senor Conklin, Senor Fisher and uh, where is the other Senor Fisher?" Maria glanced around the room which prompted Conrad to speak up.

"Maria, he typically doesn't get up until he has to. And it's Conrad. No formalities for me." He pulled a fresh waffle off the iron. "Who's next?" Maria looked to me for approval, to which I nodded. I walked over to him and whispered in his ear.

"No formalities until you become a doctor. Dr. Conrad Fisher – it has a nice ring to it." He grinned at my comment.

"Not to you, Belly. To you I will always be Conrad, no matter what happens." Conrad winked at me as he started my waffle. "I'll have this ready for you in just a minute."

I went over to the table to talk with Steven and Maria when Conrad brought our breakfast over. We all joked about Maria's insistence to call us by Spanish titles when Steven's phone buzzed.

"Who's that? Mom?" I asked as I took my plate to the sink.

"Oh, uh yeah. Mom. Just asking how the weather is out here." Steven shoved his phone back into his pocket without replying.

"Well, say hi for me." He gave me a half smile and nodded quickly.

Conrad jumped in, "So, who's up for a swim?"

"Not me… too much food." Maria rubbed her stomach.

"Same for me. I think I'll watch some more of that show Taylor got me." I grabbed the television remote off of the coffee table and got the dvd player set up. "Maria, want to join me?"

Steven interjected, "Maria doesn't want to watch Gossip Girl. She's much smarter than people like Taylor."

"Wait, you have Gossip Girl?" Maria squealed. "I was watching that on my phone while I waited for my plane. I can't believe that Serena did that to Blair, I mean, her own best friend? Wow." Maria gushed as she threw herself onto the couch and snuggled with a pillow.

Steven looked at her in disbelief. "But that show is just about clothes, gossip, and sex. What good is that?"

I spoke up, "I like clothes."

"And I like gossip!" Maria added in.

There was an awkward silence where it felt like one of us had to say that we liked sex, but no one did. Finally Steven said, "Thank God, Belly. I thought you were going to say that you liked... well, you know. You had a look on your face." I felt Conrad's eyes burning on me and turned to see him smiling at me devilishly. He was obviously just teasing me, but he had no idea why I had actually given Steven a look.

"Well, we better get started. You guys can go do whatever you want. Buh-bye!" I shooed them off. Steven went outside, probably to swim or hang at the beach, and Conrad went upstairs to his room. He closed his door like he always used to. After a while I thought I heard a strum of guitar strings, but Conrad hadn't played in years. It was probably just a CD.

**Conrad's POV**

"Where's that box?" I said quietly to myself. I hadn't seen it in years, probably before mom died, but I needed it now. It held all of the things I kept from growing up at the beach house; even all the songs I wrote for mom. She said that it was important to write those kinds of things down so that you wouldn't forget about them later.

I stopped searching for a bit when I picked up my guitar and tuned the strings up. Naturally, I had to start playing. I was strumming a random rhythm out when I remembered where I had last put it. Quickly, I went over to the old fruit crate I had and moved some books out of the way to find the small cardboard box with my name scrawled on it: _Conrad's. Keep Out._

Inside where numerous trinkets from summer's here with my family and the Conklin's; the bait hook that Jeremiah got hooked in my thumb, the funny 'gone bananas' card Laurel gave me for my thirteenth birthday, and the seashell that Belly gave me when we went on a walk by the beach.

She was only six years old, and now that I look back on it, she had loved me even then. It's like she had loved me since the day she was born. I remember mom taking Jere and I to the hospital to see Laurel and the baby, but she didn't look like much to me. Now she was a beautiful woman with a lively attitude and bright smile.

I was reminiscing through the box's contents when I found all of my old songs folded up on the bottom of the box. "There it is!" I called out before jumping onto my bed. The song was titled 'The One'; I had written it when I was fourteen years old, right after my mother told me about there being one special girl out there for me. She had said that it was a possibility that when I looked up at the sky and saw beautiful things that the girl that was made for me was out there looking up too. I had no idea that it would be the girl next to me splashing chlorine water in my face.

The song wasn't finished though. I was going to finish writing the song about Belly. She was the one made for me; the one that my mother told me about. When I complete it I will perform it on my guitar and sing to her.

**Belly's POV**

"Isabelly! Put the next disc in, please?" Maria squealed again as I changed the discs around. She was getting way too involved in the lives of these people. About as much as the people in the show that followed Gossip Girl's blog in the first place.

I wasn't really interested in the show like she was. The clothes were awfully beautiful and luxurious, but it's not like I could ever afford them. Nor would I want to pay that much for a pair of shorts. The sensuality between the characters did get to me. I wondered what it would be like to do things like that with Conrad.

I plopped back down into the recliner as the title sequence started when I felt the cushions vibrate. Maria looked over at me, "Isabelly, your phone is buzzing."

"It's not mine. I think it's –" I searched the cushion to find Conrad's phone with several unread messages and calls. "It's Conrad's… It looks like Cam is trying to get a hold of him. You remember Cam right, Cam Cameron?" Maria nodded. I opened his inbox to see what Cam had been sending him since last night and immediately ran up the stairs.

**Conrad's POV**

"No, it should be 'those summer days brought you to me,' not 'those summer days, our lives by the sea'. The summer house is by the ocean, not a sea." I muttered to myself as I erased various lines to the point that I could only cross them out. "I'm going to need to rewrite this on another sheet…" I said as my door flung open with Belly at its opposite side.

"Conrad, Jeremiah's not here!" She exclaimed out of breath before continuing, "Cam saw him walking around the pier last night drunk. He tried to get him to come home, but he wouldn't listen!" I jumped up and flew to her.

"What do you mean? Does Cam know where he is now?" I asked hurriedly.

"He said that he was driving past East Point on his way to work and Jeremiah was standing by the front cliff. Conrad, I'm scared." Tears started to roll down her cheek. My brother certainly loved playing with Belly's emotions lately. It was probably nothing if not a stunt to trick Belly into loving him again, and if so, I was going to make him pay for it.

"Don't worry. I'll go find him." I rushed out of my room, down the stairs and out the door. Belly called after me.

"I'm coming with you!"

"No, Belly, this is a brother thing. I'm sorry but I have to go alone." She seemed to understand. I hated to have to leave her behind, but her coming along could make the situation worse. I got in my car and headed for East Point. It was an ocean-side park for people to visit. Not many people go to the top of the cliffs because of its rough terrain, so I knew that he wasn't making a scene or causing a panic.

I just couldn't believe that he was faking this; the lengths that he would go to to steal Belly from me. But maybe he wasn't making some ploy. Perhaps he actually needed me, his brother, to come help him.

It took about ten minutes of a drive to get to East Point, but as soon as I pulled into a parking spot I turned off the engine and started jogging up the trail. I had been working out a lot lately at the gym so the run up there was nothing, but the air was oddly dry for being next to the beach. I headed on the left trail at the fork when I saw Jeremiah standing at the edge of the cliff, his head hung down low and his arms were at his side.

"Jere, what are you doing?" He barely looked back at me. I walked closer to him. "Jeremiah, why are you here?"

"Why do you think I'm here?" He said coldly.

"Because Belly rejected you? I don't know." His eyes darted back at me fiercely.

"You think that's why? Then you have _no_ idea."

"No. I don't. That is why I am here." I put my hand on his shoulder. The sun was beaming down on us. It must be about one or so by now. "Jeremiah, I am your brother. Please tell me what's wrong."

"We're not brothers." He said evenly. Those words seemed dead; no emotion or passion, just there. Lifeless.

"What are you talking about?" I tried to joke, "Of course we're brothers. We can play tackle football without any mercy." I saw him crack a smile, which was a good sign.

"I mean that I am not your brother. I tried taking the love of your life, several times. I cannot be trusted. I just ruin everything." He collapsed to the ground.

"Jeremiah, I trust you more than anybody, you know that. You don't ruin everything." I sat down next to him.

"I – I just wish that I could take it all back. I wish I hadn't hurt Belly like that. Cheating on her and kissing her. I wish I hadn't gotten in the way of your guy's life together. I wish I could fix it all." He put his face into his hands and I could tell that he was crying. Jeremiah wasn't above crying. Not that I thought there was anything wrong with it, I just didn't do it unless I was completely alone.

"You keep saying 'I'. _I_ this, _I _that. You can fix it by being the brother that I grew up with; the Jeremiah that Belly and Steven knew at the beach house." He looked up at the sun and then to me.

"I will. And I will find a way to fix everything. A brother to a brother." He forced a smile. I could always tell when he was forcing a smile, though he didn't do it often.

"Good. Now, please come home. Belly was scared out of her wits about you."

"Why? Because I was gone?"

"No. Cam Cameron was texting me about you being drunk and looking suicidal out here by the cliffs." His eyes grew wide.

"What? Suicidal? You've got to be kidding me. I'm just up here thinking. And I'd like to stay a little longer." Jeremiah looked forward to the ocean.

"If you promise to be home by dinner, then alright." I stood up to leave and turned around one last time, "Jere, remember that Belly will always love you. Just show her that you respect her and love what she loves."

"Love what she loves…" I heard him say to himself as I started jogging down the trail. On the way I home I stopped by the boardwalk and looked over at the ring toss booth. Flashes of that day went through my mind. I remembered seeing a thin girl there with shorts on. Short shorts, like those sexy ones girls wore in old rock music videos. Belly wore a pair of short shorts today; blue with white vertical stripes. She looked good in anything, but seeing her made me wish that she wasn't wearing anything.

"I need to stop thinking that." I mumbled to myself. Belly wasn't going to let horn-dog Conrad win her heart; I had to do this the right way.

God, I wanted her so bad. I wanted to pull her shirt over her head and toss it to the ground. I would stand behind her to unfasten her bra and slide it off, only to cup her large, round – "Hey! Conrad!" I turned to see Cam Cameron waving over at me. "Did you find Jeremiah? Is he alright?"

"Yeah. He's fine." Cam gave me a quick thumb-handshake and patted my back.

"Good to hear. So Belly called me and I went by to see her. She seems to be doing well." Wait. He was at the summer house? "So I know that Jeremiah and Belly had a thing going on, but to be honest I can't tell what rumors were and what truth was. Anyways, do you think I have a shot, man?"

I turned to him and scoffed, "You and Belly? Please. She likes someone else." Cam looked dumbfounded as I grabbed my keys and headed back to my car.

"And would that someone be you? Little presumptuous, don't you think, Fisher? I think that Belly likes educated men like myself."

"That's a little pretentious, don't _you_ think, Cameron?" I tried to follow his form, but using his last name sounded odd being as it was his first name too. He cracked a smile.

"We'll see, Fisher, we'll see." Cam Cameron walked off to a group of people by the soda shop. What an asshole, trying to claim Belly like that.

When I got back to the summer house it was nearly evening. I had lost track of time out at East Point and the boardwalk, I even missed lunch, but I wasn't hungry. Swimming seemed like the only thing I could do at this point.

To be honest, I was scared earlier as I was heading up the trail to Jeremiah. I didn't know what I was going to find. Cam had freaked Belly and I out saying that Jeremiah was suicidal and all. Then he tries to put a stake in Belly like a game. The guy really pisses me off.

I didn't have my swimming trunks, but I didn't want to go inside, so I swam in my boxer shorts. Lap after lap I swam without looking up. I couldn't face Belly right now. I needed to expel all of my energy, both physically and sexually, and crash in bed for the night. No dinner. No entertainment. No Belly.

**Belly's POV**

"Twenty-seven…" I whispered to myself. Conrad had been gone all day and now he was swimming laps in the pool like I used to. His swimming technique seemed to have some anger though, but he obviously doesn't exhaust as easily as he used to.

The sun was starting to set. Steven had ordered us pizza for dinner, but I said I'd grab some when Conrad did. Jeremiah still hadn't shown up. Conrad would still be looking for him if he hadn't found him, and if something bad had happened he would have told us right away, so I guess he was alright. I just wished I knew what was bugging Conrad.

"I come bearing food!" Maria sang as she handed me two slices of pepperoni pizza and a serving of potato chips. I knew she would notice what I was doing right away, but she waited before saying anything. A moment passed before she spoke, "Belly, how do you feel about Conrad? Like, really feel."

I figured I should be upfront because I needed advice. I didn't know what to do anymore. "Maria, he is the only guy I have ever wanted to spend my life with. I know that Jere and I almost got married, but hindsight's 20/20, ya know? Conrad's the guy for me, but I don't know if I'm the girl for him."

"Of course you're the girl for him!" She grabbed the slice of pizza that I had just bitten into, threw it back onto the plate and moved it to the end table. "Belly, Conrad is your one, alright? And you are perfect for him. You have shown him numerous times how much you love him. And him? Well, he gave you a necklace. That's cute and all, but you can't base a relationship off a necklace and a last minute confession of love the night before your would-have-been wedding." Maria could be so blunt sometimes.

"So what should I do?" I looked up at her, blinking repeatedly to hide the water welling up in my eyes.

"Well, first, you've got to stop crying over him. Give Conrad some time to figure out his next move. Guys need more time than us girls to come up with romantic stuff." Maria poked my side. She did know how to cheer me up.

I looked outside to see Conrad getting out of the pool. Maybe it would be a good idea to give him some time. At least a day. I just wanted him to wrap his arms around me so badly; and to feel his lips kissing mine. I wonder if he felt the same way, and not just in the way that all guys do.

"Hello? Is anybody home?" Jeremiah called up the stairs. He was finally back!

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**Longer chapter this time since I made all of my ardent fans wait so long. Please let me know what you think of this chapter and what you think this chapter says about the rest of the story. I'll try to update soon, but I want to hear what you guys have to say, so please ****review****!**


	8. Author's Note

**Hello, all! So it has been two weeks since I updated this story and I have only received two reviews. I made the last chapter longer because I took a little while longer to update, but I really do need to know what you think of the story. I was hoping to finish it at the end of the Summer, but I only update when I get enough feedback to continue.**

**If you'd like me to finish this story then please keep reviewing. Otherwise, I have other stories that I will devote my time to. **

**Thank you for all the support you guys have given me so far! Keep it up!**

**Sessediz**


	9. Chapter 8

**Jeremiah's POV**

When I got back to the house most of the lights were off. Steven was napping on the couch with a slice of pizza lying on the floor next to him. I smirked at the sight before me and I just had to call out loud that I was home.

Steven jumped up quickly and stepped on the pizza slice. "Gosh dang it, Jeremiah!" He picked up the slice and hopped towards the kitchen. I followed him and helped clean up the mess.

"You know you missed me." I said wiping the rug with cleaner.

Steven looked at my weirdly for a second, "What are you talking about?"

"You know, we used to do this kind of stuff all the time." I threw away the trash and heard a door open from upstairs.

"Yeah, but we've grown up. Or at least Conrad and I have." Ouch. I can't believe Steven would say that to me. I heard footsteps thump down the stairs.

"Jeremiah! You're back!" She beamed as she flew over to me and wrapped her arms in a tight hug. After a moment she pulled away and punched my arm. It didn't really hurt, but I knew it was the strongest punch she could throw. "Don't you ever do that again. You had me terrified all day."

"I'm sorry. I just went out to think. Is Con here?"

"No. He's busy thinking himself. Something's got him bothered." She bit her lower lip in a concerned manner right as Conrad walked in.

"I'm here now. Jeremiah, you're finally back." He walked up in a towel wrap around his lower body.

"I would have been here sooner but I had to run an errand – and – are you wearing swimming trunks under that towel?" I raised my eyebrow at him. He crossed his arms.

"No. And don't you even think about it. Belly's in the room and Maria's around here somewhere." I looked over at Steven who was trying to hold back his laughter. We used to pants each other all the time. Thing is, we were usually in swimwear so people didn't just see your underwear. They got a full show. "I told you to act like the older _mature_ Jeremiah that we all know and love."

"Ah, but it's unhealthy to be too mature." Steven piped in walking over to me. Conrad's eyes got big and I saw Belly getting ready to cover hers.

"Let's get him." I said as Steven and I chased after Conrad who was already taking off to the backdoor.

**Belly's POV**

"Boy's…" I whispered to myself. Maria was walking down the stairs when Jeremiah and Steven returned to the living room, towel in hand. "Com'on guys. Give Conrad his towel back."

"Why don't you give it back?" Steven teased as Jeremiah threw it towards me. I rolled my eyes and headed towards the back porch by the pool. "She's actually going, Jere. We have to stop her…" I heard Steven said when I opened the screen door. No one followed after me so I assumed that Conrad and I would be alone for a moment.

Naked Conrad. No clothes. Just 100% pure Conrad Fisher.

That's an odd thought to have, but not too uncommon lately, for me at least. I had had many private thoughts of Conrad the last month, especially last couple days.

I called out Conrad's name saying that I was alone and that I had a towel for him. A twig snapped and I turned to see him standing behind a bush that other covered him from the hips-down.

"Hey." He said reaching his hand out. I gave him the towel and he tied it around him. "Sorry you had to see that."

"I didn't see anything…" I trailed off. He smirked.

"Oh, really?" He walked around the bush and stood in front of me. "Would you like to have?"

I was taken aback that he was so forward with such a question. "No…" I trailed off again. Conrad moved in towards me, grabbing my chin to kiss me. His kiss seemed hurried, not like the one I received the other day. That kiss was smooth, slow and sensual. This kiss seemed like he was trying to prove something. Maybe that he wanted me to be his and not Jeremiah's; I don't know.

"Belly…" He moaned as he continued to kiss me. I felt the urge to hold him closer to me and suddenly our bodies were pressed against each other's completely. It wasn't even two minutes later that I felt it.

"Conrad?" I asked, stopping our kiss. His eyes got wide and he pulled away from me.

"I'm sorry. I am so so sorry, Belly." He went over to the pool gate and went inside to grab his clothes from the lounge chair.

"It's okay, Conrad. I have the same problem too. Right now, actually. It's just not blatantly obvious like you." I tried to lighten the situation, but he just ran over to me in a frenzy.

"Wait, you want to too?"

"Yeah, but I don't think we should. I'm just saying not to be embarrassed." I tried to hug him but he pulled away.

"I can't help but be embarrassed. And I can't help but feel this way towards you. I'm a guy; a young guy, and I am physically and mentally attracted to you Isabel Conklin."

"I know. I'm attracted to you too and I wish this was easier but I can't take this… erm, reaction that your body is having as a tell to the love you say you have for me." I looked away to the ground and shuffled my feet.

"Well, I made something for you. It's up in my room if you'd like to come." He said sincerely, but I didn't believe him.

"Nice try, Connie. I'm not falling for it." He looked hurt at my statement.

"That's not what I meant. I actually wrote something for you. Please don't assume that I am trying to seduce you all the time. This was an accident." He glanced down for a split second and back up, which caused me to do the same. The difference is that I didn't look for only a split second. "My eyes are up here, Belly." My head snapped up and so did a frown.

"Funny. I'll meet you upstairs in–?" I waited for him to chime in a time.

"Fifteen minutes. I've got to wait till, you know." I knew. I took health class in high school.

"See you soon."

**Conrad's POV**

I waited for Belly to go inside before I snuck in by myself. It was by a miracle of luck that Steven, Jeremiah and Maria were already upstairs.

Normally I am a pretty organized guy, but I've had a lot of running and going with Belly and everyone at the house so there were clothes gathered on my floor. I grabbed some clothes to put on, my old black Gibson tee and sweats, and threw the other clothes in my hamper.

There was a soft knock at the door. "May I come in?" I heard Belly murmur outside in the hallway. I ran my fingers through my hair, brushing it to the side, and opened the door.

"Yes, ma'am." I gestured for her to come inside and sit on the bed while I closed the door. She sat down crossed legged on the edge of my bed and waited.

"So you had something to show me?" I realized that I had been standing there just looking at her for about a minute.

"Uh, yeah." I stammered out and picked up my guitar. "I, uh, wrote a song when I was younger. It was dedicated to the girl I was destined to be with. Now that I know that that girl is you I have finally finished writing it. Would you like to hear?" I spoke so fast that she looked a little dumbfounded.

"I would like to hear it," was all she said. I smiled giddily and sat on the corner of the bed, ready to start I strummed the first chord.

_When I look up to the sky, I sometimes see her face_

_Her smile always brings me to a hi-igher place._

_The summers we spent together I let pass without much thought_

_When I should have cut it fast like the Gordian Knot._

_Those summer days brought you to me_

_But who could ever guess what they would come to be?_

_Isabel Conklin, you are my one, my forever_

_And you are worth this loves endeavor._

I had gotten so focused on hitting the right chords and not cracking my vocals that I didn't even think to look at Belly's face. When I rang out the final note I turned my head up to see her crying.

"Oh, Belly, please don't cry. I know there might have been a cheesy line or two but I wrote it all from the heart." She wiped away some tears and smiled.

"Conrad, it was beautiful. I can't believe you wrote a song about me. No one's ever done that before." I couldn't help but beam. Belly was actually happy about my song. I had made her smile with my music! "Thank you, Conrad." She said leaning over to kiss me on my cheek.

"No... problem…" I breathed. Belly kept at her position and kissed my lips with hers. I sat my guitar on the ground and held her face in my hands. She rolled backwards, with me on top of her, and before I knew it we were fully making out.

I missed this so much. Back when Belly and I were dating I used to drive us out here for a night to spend together. We never did anything besides make out, but it was always so much fun. Honestly, I don't think Laurel would have minded if we did. She and Belly always differed on the opinion of when sex was appropriate in a relationship. I only wish that I myself had gotten Belly's wisdom sooner rather than later. Too late.

Belly stayed in my room that night. We didn't go to any of the bases, but she did let me hold her in the spooning position as we slept. She even had this great idea to put a small pillow between us to prevent the problem we had earlier. It worked.

For the most part.

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**I am planning on updating this story again within the next few days or so, so look back often for the next chapter! Hope you guys are enjoying Searching For Summer so far! **


	10. Chapter 9

**Belly's POV**

There was a dream that I had when I was younger; the day after Jeremiah cut his knee on a broken seashell. In the dream I was holding a baby goat while walking along a street to a toll bridge. The guard at the bridge was a shaman who said that I owned him five thousand yen in exchange for a life token that I could cash in at a utopia of my choice. I sold him the goat and walked through the gateway to Conrad's bedroom. Then I woke up.

I had the dream again. You know when you repeat dreams that you had years ago? That's what just happened, except this time when I woke up I was really in Conrad's bed.

I turned to face him and he was snoring softly to himself, smiling. He was always so adorable when he slept, or at least I thought so. It was still fairly early in the morning so I was quiet as I jumped up and looked around. Conrad's room was filled with band posters and a few film ones too. I always thought that he'd make it big; that I'd tour with him and his band as a manger and groupie, wearing those tacky fashion scarves around my neck with an ear piece and a clipboard. That was the idea, anyways.

Things were different now. Conrad had stopped playing music (sans last night) and I could never get used to those ear-bud microphones like in-charge people wear. Here I was spending my first few weeks back in the states in the memory of summer's past. Cousin's Beach; home of the Fighting Sea Turtles.

Conrad exhaled and I stood still, waiting for him to move enough to jolt himself awake. Instead, he continued to sleep despite my wishes. _Oh, well…_ I thought to myself. I decided to go downstairs to grab the morning paper and catch up on the national news. When I got to the front porch I noticed that there was mail from the last few days stuffed inside of it.

Bills, political advertisements, a plumbing promotion from Cam's work and a letter addressed to me from Spain. There was no other name on the envelope except for Isabel, but I recognized the handwriting immediately.

**Conrad's POV**

I was dreaming about lying out in the sun with me eyes glowing red from the heat when I was suddenly awoken by the blood curling scream of Belly. I jumped up immediately to find that she was no longer in my bedroom.

"The kitchen." I muttered to myself as I threw open the door. I saw Maria rushing down the stairs in a swift motion as she tied her satin robe around her waist. I followed close behind as I heard Steven and Jeremiah's doors open.

"Belly, it's okay. It's okay. I'm here." I heard Maria say as I found Belly collapsed on the floor crying. I hadn't even realized that Belly was now wearing makeup. She looked no different than yesterday, besides the smears, but I usually noticed stuff like that. I knew everything about Belly, or I thought so.

"M-Ma-Maria... It's him. I know it's him. I don't know how he got this address, but he did. Maria I can't- I can't. I just can't." Belly stuttered out. Maria rubbed her back and tried to comfort her with hushed whispers too inaudible to hear.

"What's going on?" I asked bewildered. Maria looked up at me worried. I had expected a glare as if to say 'this is a girl matter, butt off, Con' but she looked more like she was asking for help. "What's this letter here?" I noticed a thin yellowed envelope lying next to Belly's foot and picked it up. "A letter from Spain?"

"Don't let him read it, Maria. No one can read it. I can't read it. Just burn it, please…" She sobbed. I wondered what had upset her so much. Did Belly date some guy in Spain and thing's ended badly? Like, she fell in love and he broke her heart? Maybe the other way around. Jeremiah and Steven hurried down the stairs.

"What the hell is going on, guys? Can't a man sleep?" Steven yawned. I shot him a dirty look for his comment. I didn't know what was going on with Belly, but Steven should have the decency to not assume a wolf-cry when she was in obvious pain.

Maria shook her head and helped Belly to her feet. "Get me a pot of water on the stove, stat. I'll be helping Belly back up to her room in the meantime."

"She can go to my bedroom. The bed's larger. I won't need it till tonight anyways." I offered. Maria nodded and grabbed a box of tissues from the end table as she guided Belly upstairs. Without a moment's notice I was starting a pot of water and preparing Belly's favorite breakfast; scrambled eggs, triangular toast and thick-cut bacon. Jeremiah spoke up.

"Hey, what's going on? Why is Belly so upset?"

I turned on the stove top to fry the bacon, "I don't know," I said, "but I think it has something to do with that letter there." I gestured to the letter's position on the kitchen counter. Steven eyed it.

"Then we should read it to see what's going on."

"No. It's addressed to Belly. We can't open it. That's a federal crime."

Jeremiah interjected, "I don't think Belly is going to press charges. I'll read it." He snatched the envelope off the counter and ran his thumb along the inside of the pressed fold. I didn't want to read it when Belly had said that she didn't want us to, but curiosity and frustration got the better of me.

"It's from a guy named Ramon. He apologizes for the incidence at the festival and that he wants to explain everything. He's coming to America in five days." Jeremiah recited.

"When was it mailed?" Steven asked.

"Four days ago. Looks like he'll be here tonight or tomorrow."

My mind started buzzing with words, thoughts, and ideas almost instantaneously. What could have happened in Spain while Belly was abroad? Who was this guy Ramon? Belly never mentioned him.

I tried to think about how much Belly has changed. She now cared about fashion (somewhat) and makeup, so her appearance changed while she was away. Belly never used to be okay with being so close to me, even if in the end we haven't done anything. Maybe that's because of college.

I just couldn't figure out what it could be. I feared the worst but I didn't even want to have that thought, especially not without talking to Belly either.

Maria tiptoed down the stairs and spoke in a low, even tone, "Is the water boiling? I'm going to make her some tea." I gestured to the pot and noticed that the bacon was started to get over crispy.

"Shit. I'll eat these. Belly likes chewy bacon." I shoveled the pieces onto a cutting board that was handy and started another batch. "Maria, when can I go see Belly?"

She was pouring the steamed water into a mug, "I don't know. She told me before that she didn't want to tell you what happened, but maybe she'll change her mind. I guess she has to eventually. Do you have that letter?" I looked over at Jeremiah who held it up high.

"I have it. And we read it. Some guy named Ramon is coming to the beach house, seemingly uninvited. Should we call the cops?"

Maria looked horrified. "Ramon is coming _here_?" Jeremiah nodded. "I have to tell Belly. I'll be right back." She rushed back up the stairs and I followed after her quietly.

Once upstairs I heard Maria tell Belly the news. I felt bad for eavesdropping, but I had to know what was wrong. I had to help her.

I don't know exactly what I expected to hear, but I wasn't prepared for what I heard. In between the tears and sniffles I heard Belly mutter, "Maria, I don't remember much of that night… but I know Ramon attacked me. And I know he took it. When Conrad finds out he's going to kill me. And maybe Ramon."

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**So…. I took WAY too long to update this and I apologize for that! Just started my second year of college and free time is not my middle name. Nap time maybe, but not free time. Anyways, I PROMISE to update this within ten days of this update. Feel free to nag in a PM if I delay. **

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter and want to see what happens next! You probably won't guess what the secret is. Maybe, but maybe not.**


	11. Chapter 10

**Conrad's POV**

_Belly. No._

I fell to the ground, tears forming at the corners of my eyes. Ramon had attacked her, and took _'it'_. There's nothing else it could be.

I didn't care that she was no longer a virgin, but that she had been defiled by some guy I didn't even know. Some guy that I couldn't drive over to and beat the living shit out of.

Wrong. I could beat the living shit out of him. Ramon was coming to America sometime in the next 24 hours and I was going to make him pay for what he did to my beautiful Belly. No girl should be taken advantage of, but I felt extra enraged that he had done it to her.

I don't even remember what I did next. I have a vague memory of Jeremiah trying to block the front door and Steven picking up his phone. Part of me felt like I saw Belly crying on the ground, wrapped in the sea shell blanket from the living room couch, but I couldn't tell if I made that up or not.

**Belly's POV**

I heard Conrad whimpering outside of my door of the summer house. There were only two other times in my life that I had heard him cry, but this was worse than both of those. His breathing was cutting short so he had to keep gasping for air outside of his tears.

_He heard._

I jumped up to the door and opened it to find him collapsed devastatingly on the top of the stairs. "Conrad. Conrad, what is it?" I tried to play dumb, but I knew that he knew. I knew why he was crying and that it was all my fault.

"Belly, I have to go." He staggered up and held all of his weight on the banister, trying to find his way to the living room.

"Conrad, I'm sorry. It's all my fault, please don't hate me!" I cried out. Conrad looked back at me bewildered as his feet continued down the stairs, causing him to trip down to the landing. "Con!" I yelled out. Jeremiah and Steven rushed over to help him up and Maria came to my side.

"What's going on? Conrad, man, you okay?" Steven asked hurriedly.

"Get away from me. I have to go." Conrad's eyes looked bloodshot. I knew he would hate me. I knew that he would probably throw a fit, saying that I wasn't careful with the most precious things in life; something that was both special to him and myself. But I did not know that he would go crazy over it, crashing into the credenza and knocking Jeremiah over.

"Watch it, Con! What's with you?" Jeremiah shook his head and straightened up, "You look like you just saw a ghost."

"Belly." Was all that Conrad replied with.

"Conrad, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lose it!" I sobbed into my hands, falling to the ground. I did the only thing I could do at this moment; I curled into fetal position and cried and cried while the others dealt with Conrad. He was trying to leave the summer house, probably needed a day to think about how he felt about me now. I had no problem with it. I just wish he'd let me explain.

Maria wrapped a blanket around me as I heard the screen door slam shut and the car start. I lied there for three hours. It was one of those naps that you have to take after expelling so much energy crying. When I awoke Maria was sitting next to me with three cups of tea and one of her novels. She was so engrossed in it that she didn't realize that I was no longer asleep.

My eyes searched the room slowly before resting my eyes on the other person sitting right beside me. Cam Cameron.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. Maria's eyes perked up and I had both of theirs full attention.

"Checking up on you, silly. Your brother and Jeremiah are with Conrad. I heard that he ran out on you, Belly." He grabbed my hand gently and smiled, "I would have never of done that to you."

Maria grinned approvingly. What was Cam playing at? I still thought that he was cute but the way he was acting was a little too romantic for me. I tried to sit up.

"Oh, don't strain yourself." Cam held me at the small of my back.

"I think I can handle myself. Where's Conrad at? I need to find him." I looked to Maria.

"I don't know. All I know is that Jeremiah and Steven are with him. Ramon called an hour and a half ago. His flight will be in at 2:00PM." Maria's head bowed. I knew what this meant, and so did she. This was my chance to muster up the courage and take back what was taken from me. From my family with the Fisher's.

**Conrad's POV**

"He raped her. And I am going to kill him." I said to Jeremiah and Steven once we had pulled to the side of the road at the end of the town. There was a long silence and neither of them said anything. I continued, "Do you want to help me find him?"

"Yes." They said in unison.

"Let's get the bastard." Jeremiah said in a dark tone that I had never heard before. Have you ever been in a situation where you can feel the angry rolling from your body, like you were producing it? This is how I felt sitting in Jeremiah's car, except I could feel the same happening from Jere and Steven.

I guess we were all just too angry to even think about Belly and how it all happened that night. All we cared about was getting even and then comforting her.

I knew that I still loved her, and, if she would have me, I was going to marry her. I hoped that she wouldn't think of it as pity, but I couldn't stand it any longer. I wanted Belly's love and I was going to win it back by finding this Ramon guy from Spain.

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**This chapter was HEAVY ****(like Marty McFly would always say)**** a****nd I apologize for that, but keep reading! I would have updated sooner, but nobody reviewed! With this (Chapter 9) replacing the chapter 10 poll I posted, I only have two reviews for the actual story… [sad face].**

**In any case, I will update this sooner if I get more reviews. Tell me what you think!**


	12. Chapter 11

**Belly's POV**

I asked Maria to go with me to the airport to pick up Ramon so that I could talk with him; Cam Cameron decided to tag along. It wasn't really his place to invite himself in such a personal matter but I didn't have time to argue with him.

We hit the interstate and sped through traffic trying to get there before the plane landed. All I could think about was yelling at Ramon and demanding the ring. Maria had to keep telling me to slow down.

**Conrad's POV**

Jeremiah had driven us to the pizza parlor the next town over off the interstate to calm me down. We only went a few times as kids but it brought us all back to those days. Jeremiah sure was different today.

We were on our way back to Cousin's when we noticed Belly's car driving somewhere between 15 and 20 mph over the speed limit in the opposite set of lanes. I told Jeremiah to make a U turn at the next opening, "But I can't. That's illegal." Jeremiah said worriedly.

I gripped my hand firmly on his right shoulder, "Make the turn," and he did as I said. Jere followed her car, which seemed to have three people in it, till the airport exit. "She's going to go see him." I reclined in the backseat of the car, but not comfortably. How could she do that? Wasn't she afraid he'd do something again? But maybe not, the airport is far too public for such a crime, especially with security. But still, who was this Belly; it was not the Belly I once knew.

Belly had changed. I noticed the details of her dress and makeup before, but her attitude was different. She was a lot more assertive and less whiny about not getting her way. Not that I'd ever not let her have her way. She wasn't the same girl after Spain; the girl I grew up with every summer.

**Belly's POV**

It took forever to find a parking spot, but we managed. Maria held my hand as we marched up to the airport terminal where Ramon would soon be. Cam trailed behind us, trying to keep up. We reached a crosswalk and, while Maria was on my right holding my hand, Cam was on my left attempting to do the same. I shot a glare back at him and he coward his head down.

Maria found us seats in the waiting area. I picked up a Family Circle magazine to flip through the recipes that I'd like Cornad to try. It wasn't two minutes later that I heard his voice.

"What the hell are you doing here, Belly?" I looked up to see him towering over me, enraged. He didn't look iike he was too mad at me, but something else.

"I beg your pardon, since when do you talk to me in swear words?" It was true, Conrad never had spoken that way to me before.

"Don't change the subject. Where's Ramon? That's why you're here isn't it?" My eyes got wide.

"Conrad, don't. Let me handle this."

"It concerns me, Belly. I'm involved, whether you like it or not." Conrad was riggid.

"He's right." I nodded and looked towards Maria, "This concerns Conrad and Jeremiah just as much as Steven and I. And mom." The guys seemed confused by my statement at first, but then nodded in agreeyance.

"Isabel Conklin." We all turned to the a 6-foot, dark complexioned man with medium length black curls and a grin on his face.

"Ramon." I said evenly.

"Ramon?" Conrad said literally two seconds before he pulled his fist back and lunged towards Ramon. I jumped in the way.

"Ahh!" I screamed, falling to the ground. Conrad had missed my face, due to my height difference to Ramond, but his right hook kept forward with the punch and fored me to the ground.

"BELLY!" They all screamed. I looked around and noticed many families and children staring at us now. Luckily there wasn't a secutiry guard within earshot.

"Conrad Fisher. Help me up." I demanded. Conrad didn't hesitate, he immediately dropped down to the ground and helped me onto my feet. "What the hell are you doing? I need to talk to Ramon. Don't hit him."

"But.. but.. he attacked you." Conrad muttered, a set of tears forming at his two eyes.

"I did no such thing." Ramon spoke up. I rolled my eyes.

"Conrad, I'll get it back. Just let me talk to him."

"You can't get it back once it's been taken." Conrad's eyes were ice cold.

"What…?" I raised my eyebrows.

Jeremiah spoke up. "We know what he did to you in Spain." I looked to Conrad and saw him staring at the ground. Without thinking I grabbed the sleeve of his T-shirt and pulled him away from the crowd.

"Conrad, what do you think happened that night?" I looked in his eyes. He opened his mouth, but wouldn't say anything at first.

"He raped you."

_What_.

"What?"

**Conrad's POV**

Belly stared at me blankly. I waited for her to continue, but perhaps I was supposed to answer…

Just as I was about to speak Belly started to cry. Tears were folding down her cheeks and she wiped them away hurriedly. "Conrad, Ramon didn't rape me. He took Susannah's ring." Her bottom lip quivered for a second and she covered her face.

"Her… ring?" I asked. She nodded her head slowly.

"It was in my letter. The letter I got on the day I was to marry Jeremiah. Susannah wanted me to have it, even if I never became a Fisher." She wiped away more tears, "I brought it with me to Spain because I was afraid to leave without something to remember her by, and you."

I had no idea that Belly was given my mother's wedding set. Mom's engagement ring was made into a wedding band after she and dad got married, part of some wedding band set arrangement. I never really thought of giving her ring to any girl, let alone Belly, but perhaps mom didn't want Jere or me to have the option while the other didn't.

"Belly, what happened to the ring?"

"I put it on one evening because I was having a bad day and it always made me feel better. Maria took me out to a local hangout that would qualify for one of Jeremiah's frat parties…" She smirked hesitantly and continued, "I had a little too much to drink and Ramon was trying his usual tricks to get me in bed. Maria and I decided to head home and Ramon was waiting for us outside with his group. They hassled us and started getting physical. Ramon stole the ring and left town again. He was usually only there for more of his parents' money anyway."

"Oh." I looked down to the ground, "I—I thought that he had hurt you… It's just a ring, Belly."

Her head snapped up, "Just a ring? It was Susannah's ring. She bestowed it upon me and I lost it like a child would! I have to get it back."

I reached for her wrists, which she was throwing about in crazed hand motions, and pulled her into a tight hug. "I'm just glad you're okay." Her muscles lightened up and she eased into the hug. "I'll buy you a new ring someday."

"It's not the same, Conrad. That was Sus—oh, you mean…" Her eyebrows rose above their usual placement.

"Yeah, you'll get your own ring." I smiled. Belly blushed nervously and pulled away to fan her face. I heard someone step up to us and start to speak.

"Conrad Fisher, Isabel Conklin, I believe this is yours." Ramon held out a silver ring with intricate swirls, two medium lavender pearls with two small ones nestled on the outside of each. There was the white diamond at the center and four small blue diamonds at the four cardinals surrounding the setting of the gem. It was Susannah's ring.

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**I loved all of your reviews! It was such a happy day when my account finally refreshed and I got three days' worth in one sitting! :D**

**Tell me what you think of this chapter though… Did a lot of your questions get answered? I hope so. But what about Ramon? Why did he steal the ring? How are Steven and Jeremiah going to react when they find out what really happened? And what the hell is Cam Cameron still doing in this story?**

**Keep reading, keep reviewing and you'll find out!**


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